'Hamilton's' hidden star: Mansfield's David Korins designed the musical's iconic set

Jody Feinberg The Patriot Ledger

Thursday

Sep 13, 2018 at 4:41 AMSep 13, 2018 at 5:21 PM

When Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr duel in the musical “Hamilton,” the tension is heightened as they circle round each other on a rotating two-part turntable.

The exciting confrontation might have seemed less so if set designer David Korins, who grew up in Mansfield, hadn’t stuck with his instinct. Initially rejected, the turntable, a set of wooden spinning circles built into the floor, became the centerpiece of the set after Korins showed the director and choreography 10 moments where it would be used. When “Hamilton” runs at The Opera House from September 18 to November 18, audiences will see the turntable move not just 10, but nearly 40 times in each show.

“The turntables are great aids in freezing, accelerating, slowing down, and rewinding time,” said Korins, who designed an 18-foot diameter inner circle surrounded by a 24-foot diameter outer ring. “They convey the circular, cyclical aspects of the show: the cat-and-mouse relation of Hamilton and Burr, the actual hurricane that swept Hamilton off his island and the political whirlwind he gets caught up in.”

Long awaited, the must-see blockbuster written by Lin-Manuel Miranda is the epic story of the country’s first treasury secretary and the development of the nation from the American Revolution to 30 years beyond. It’s performed by a mostly minority cast largely in rap and hip-hop, as well as R&B, blues, jazz and pop. Its artistic and financial success – it won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Musical and 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and has earned more money than any other Broadway show over the same period of time – has surprised even the creative team and producers who most believed in it.

“There are a lot of ways that 'Hamilton' could have gone wrong if the producers hadn’t had vision and (the creative team) hadn’t executed it in the way it did,” said Korins, who received a Tony Award nomination for his work. “I thought it would be successful, but didn’t know if it would be a hit. The truth now is that almost every single person has heard of it and it has permeated American life, while it’s just getting started on its trajectory.”

For his part, Korins’ path is not what he imagined as a teenager at Mansfield High. He worked on his first theater set as a sort of consolation prize at the suggestion of the school’s drama director after his disappointment when he was cast in a secondary role and not the lead in the musical, “Carousel.” After being a drum major in the high school marching band, varsity basketball player and president of the senior class of 1994, he studied theater design at UMass Amherst and spent summers building sets at the Williamstown Theater Festival in the Berkshires. After graduation, he started Edge Theater Company in New York City.

By the time he interviewed to be the set designer, Korins, who has run David Korins Design in New York City since 2004, had become so successful that he could pretty much pick his projects. And “Hamilton” was one he really wanted.

“When I heard the music I loved it, and I was hoping I would get picked,” said Korins, who previously had collaborated with director Thomas Kail and others on the creative team. “I believed in the show and its deeper meaning. And I thought, ‘Here is a group of people who are my friends and collaborators. I believed in us as a combined talent, and I wanted to get the job to hang out with them and make something cool.”

After many months of “a rigorous deep dive,” exploring design options, Korins decided to create a visual metaphor, rather than convey actual time or place, and expanded the use of the turntable.

“We were unsure when we were making it how people would be able to hear the content of a show with over 50 songs and 30,000 words,” he said. “It was my job to help people focus on what was most important to pay attention to, so that the performances and not the set would be the highlight.”

Nonetheless, the deceptively simple set is quite special in its own right. In front of brick walls, a large wooden scaffold with coils of hanging rope provides a background, as well as a platform on which the actors can walk above the stage and descend onto it and the turntable.

“It’s built as an idea,” Korins said. “It’s the scaffolding from which the country was built, and the brick wall is the foundation of the country. It’s put together in the way a boat would have been built in the 18th century, (representing) that Hamilton and other immigrants came by ship and all the carpenters at that time would also have been shipbuilders.”

When the second act opens following the Revolution, 8 feet of bricks have been added to the wall.

“The story is about change, so the wall grows to convey that,” Korins said. “Now, Hamilton (and others) have to govern.

One of Korins’ favorite turntable scenes is when Hamilton meets Eliza for the first time. First, the story is told in real time when Eliza and others sing “Helpless,” and then the turntable rotates in the opposite direction as though its rewinding time and Angelica sings her version in “Satisfied.”

The turntable also enhances the argument between Jefferson and Hamilton in “Cabinet Battle #2,” when they present to Washington opposing sides about whether America should provide aid to France in a war against England.

“Hamilton and Jefferson stand still, but they rotate on the turntable, and that helps us be privy to their different perspectives,” he said. “That felt exciting to me.”

Excitement is an understatement for the impact “Hamilton” has had on Korins, who also received an Emmy Award for the live telecast of “Grease” and is the set designer for another musical sensation, “Dear Evan Hansen,” which will run at The Opera House next summer. He also designed the set for “Motown the Musical,” “Bandstand” “War Paint” and other Broadway shows, and he has designed concerts for Lady Gaga, Kanye West and other stars, as well as designed for film, television, operas and festivals.

“It’s interesting to think about my life before 'Hamilton' and after 'Hamilton,' he said. “It’s a profound thing to be involved in something that has so deeply affected so many people.”

That influence will be expanded when “Hamilton the Exhibit” opens in April in Chicago, which Korins described as “an immersive walk through a 30,000 square foot tent that is somewhere between an art installation and a museum.”

As creative director, Korins is working with Lin-Manuel Miranda, director Thomas Kail, producer Jeffrey Seller, and two leading historians to create a historically accurate telling of the “Hamilton” story. Visitors will move through 18-rooms with an acoustic guide written and spoken by Miranda that features the show’s music, re-orchestrated by original orchestrator Alex Lacamoire. It is expected to travel to other cities after its six-month run on Northerly Island, a man-made peninsula on Lake Michigan that is home to the Adler Planetarium.

“Miranda had to take historical license in order to make the storytelling compelling,” Korins said. “There’s a lot of interest in retelling the story with historical accuracy. As far as sheer magnitude, it’s the biggest job I’ve done.”

For example, in the show Burr, Lafayette, Hamilton and Mulligan all meet on the same night in a tavern, since the production would have dragged with four separate meetings. Other license was taken with Burr’s decision to challenge Hamilton to a duel.

“The show makes it seems like Burr did so because he was so upset when Hamilton endorsed Jefferson in 1800, but the truth is they’d been sparring in person and in writing for years and the endorsement was just the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Korins said.

Korins said he hopes "Hamilton the Exhibit" comes to Boston, but in the meantime he is excited that “Hamilton” finally will be here.

“It’s a thrill to do what I do for a living, and Boston was my city growing up, so I always feel it’s meaningful when I have a show in my hometown,” he said.

Reach Jody Feinberg at jfeinberg@patriotledger.com. Follow her on Twitter@JodyF_Ledger.